Snapshot Day

When I first heard about Snapshot day, I wanted to do something that represented New York city as a whole. I wanted to capture the bright lights, the fast-paced movement and the diversity that could only be found in New York. I wanted to use the composition rules that we learned in class to give the photograph a depth and an idea of New York City. This however did not turn out to be the case. On Snapshot day, I almost forgot that it was Snapshot day. When I did remember, it was pretty late and I was going out to eat with some friends. At first I decided to take a picture of food, but when I looked around the restaurant, I found an idea. At the restaurant, there were lanterns hanging from the ceiling, all with the characters “寿司”(sushi) and a red sticker with more characters on it that I do know know the meaning of. I found the contrast between the bright lantern against the dark ceiling interesting and decided to take a picture of it.

Compositionally, this photograph satisfies the rule of diagonals. The lines of the ceiling help create a depth to the picture. The asymmetry of the lanterns also help give a depth to the photograph as well. The focus of only one of the lanterns makes this photograph interesting.  The photograph aslo follows the rule of thirds. I like how the brightness of the lights contrasts against the dark ceiling, and moderately dark setting of the restaurant. I also like how the redness of the sticker on the lantern stands out compared to the dark characters and white light of the lantern.

The next time I try to take photographs, I will try to remember all the compositional rules to help me make the picture an interesting one.